Are Fitness Watches Safe to Wear?

We seem to be surrounded by technology more and more as time flies by, so it’s only natural for people to doubt how healthy, or better yet, how unhealthy some of its aspects are. Although it is easier than ever to do pretty much everything, it’s also riskier. Today we’re going to talk about the potential drawbacks and side effects of using fitness watches.

Are Fitness Watches Safe to Wear?

In short, fitness trackers and fitness watches are currently ‘presumed’ to be safe to use. After all, this particular piece of technology is still very young, and there’s still a lot of work needed to be done in terms of research. What we do know is that these gadgets are powered by batteries, much like most smart devices, and they do emit certain harmful frequencies, including EMF radiation.

What is EMF radiation?

In simple words, EMF stands for electric & magnetic fields, and it’s the scientific term for ‘radiation’ in its purest sense. However, there’s no need for alarm – EMF radiation is very different from ‘nuclear’ radiation that people sometimes confuse it with.

Another aspect or rather a part of Electro-magnetic field radiation is ‘light’ that we can even see coming from the sun, and it’s only harmful under specific conditions; otherwise, it’s even healthy for humans, plants, animals, and pretty much all life on earth.

What happens when a person gets exposed to EMF radiation coming from smart devices?

Since EMF radiation is the only potential health hazard of wearing a fitness watch, it’s only natural to ask yourself ‘what happens when you’re exposed to it?’

First of all, we should clear the air by explaining several things:

1.       You are already exposed to EMF radiation
2.       There are different types of exposure to EMF radiation

According to most recent studies, almost 90% of the global population uses electricity, and since you are reading this ‘online’, it’s obvious that you do use it too.

Now, every single thing, item, and device that uses electricity as a power source emits a certain dose of electro-magnetic radiation. Does this mean that we can’t escape it no matter what we do? The only answer that you should be interested in is that ‘you don’t really have to’.

Namely, EMF radiation exists in two types – Ionizing Radiation and Non-Ionizing Radiation. In order to better understand how these different types of radiation affect your well-being and health, let’s address the matter in a bit more detail.

Ionizing Radiation and what produces it

Simply put, Ionizing Radiation is ‘dangerous’, or more specifically speaking, ionizing radiation is high-level radiation. This is the only hazardous and harmful type of electro-magnetic radiation that is causing the growth of cancer cells within human bodies.

Luckily, ionizing radiation is caused only and exclusively by direct exposure to UV (ultraviolet) light and/or X-rays. This being said, fitness trackers are leagues away from emitting high-level ionizing radiation, even if you use them for decades 24-7.

Non-ionizing radiation and fitness trackers

Non-ionizing radiation basically relates to low-level electro-magnetic radiation and comes from numerous appliances and devices, such as microwaves, wireless routers, smartphones, computers, and all Bluetooth-compatible fitness trackers.

Although you are, technically speaking, exposed to non-ionizing radiation while you’re using a fitness tracker, the level of electro-magnetic radiation is so low and mild that it’s completely harmless to people. Needless to say, non-ionizing radiation does not cause cancer and will not hasten the speed of pre-existing cancer cells.

How to minimize the risk of exposure and potentially hazardous effects of wearing a fitness watch/tracker

In essence, the intensity of EMF radiation gradually decreases as you move further away from the emitting device – in this case, this is a fitness tracker. The problem here is that fitness trackers need to be worn throughout the day, which basically means that you’re close to the emitter of radiation constantly. So, is there a way to minimize and limit the side-effects?

Although they might not be as popular as more modern smart watches and fitness trackers, non-Bluetooth trackers emit the lowest levels of EMF radiation. In fact, the only time when you’re actually exposed is when you ‘analyze’ the data collected by the fitness tracker.

Since non-Bluetooth trackers need to be connected to a PC, a laptop, or a smartphone, the duration of data synchronization is typically only a couple of minutes. This means that instead of being exposed to EMF radiation for hours and hours while being in direct contact with the emitter, you’ll be at a relatively safe distance and finish the process up in about 10-15 minutes.

The main reason why people have so many questions about the safety of using fitness trackers is that this is still relatively uncharted territory. Here’s what’s on everyone’s mind right now in regard to the use of fitness smart watches and trackers:

Is, and how safe it is to wear your fitness tracker while sleeping?

Even if you are using a Bluetooth smartwatch/tracker, you shouldn’t be worried. These devices only let off a small amount of EMF radiation (called non-ionizing radiation), which is not harmful to humans.

In case you are using a non-Bluetooth tracker, you can literally wear it 24-7 without having to fret about a thing in terms of electro-magnetic radiation.

Am I endangering my family and friends while wearing a fitness tracker?

No, you are not. The intensity of EMF radiation rapidly decreases with range, which means that everyone in your near vicinity is safe. PCs, laptops, microwaves, and similar electric household appliances are ‘more’ dangerous, even though even they do not put out adequate levels of radiation to endanger anybody.

Are non-Bluetooth trackers emitting ‘blue light’ radiation?

Non-Bluetooth smart devices don’t give off almost any radiation whatsoever until they are connected to a PC or a laptop. Even though these devices are electronic and digital, the level of electro-magnetic radiation they produce is substantially lower than the level of EMF radiation a standard smartphone is emitting.